Noam Scheindlin
English 101/103
THE RESEARCH PAPER FROM START TO FINISH
STEP 1: GENERAL CATEGORY
Your paper can take on either an intrasystemic topic, or an intersystemic topic.
INTRASYSTEMIC: your paper can either be about an issue or a problem centered around one belief system (such as the relation between Shiite and Sunni in the religon of Islam)
or
INTERSYSTEMIC: your paper can compare and discuss a theme, issue, or problem between two or more belief systems (such as the difference between the emphasis on oneness in Hinduism and on emptiness in Buddhism).
STEP 2: PARTICULAR TOPIC, GUIDING QUESTIONS
Using your textbooks, your course packet, and other resources from your three classes in this cluster, find an issue or a topic that you will want to work with over the course of the semester.
Prepare a list of initial questions that pertain to your topic, and your exploration of it.
Come up with a working title for your project.
Due, posted on website, 27 September.
STEP 3: SOURCES
Using the skills that you have learned from the library orientation and class, find five to seven appropriate sources that will serve as candidates for your project.
Prepare an annotated bibliography, citing your sources, and providing a brief description of what the source is:
What discipline does it come from?
What questions does it address?
Why could it be useful in your paper?
Due, posted on website, 6 October.
STEP 4: STUDY
Read and evaluate your sources, all the while taking notes, summarizing, developing questions. Check your questions against your initial questions. Is your thinking on track? Does the track need to be changed? Change your guiding questions as needed in order to keep up with your exposure to the new material.
STEP 4: PROPOSAL
You will need a provisional thesis or governing idea, which will serve as the guide, and as the basis for what you are going to write about. Your thesis does not have to be scientific; it does not have to be something you can definitely prove. But it should be able to be something that will allow you to draw out an idea that conjoins the texts that you will be working with.
Your governing idea can come about in various ways.
-though comparing and contrasting the texts that you are reading
-through synthesizing the texts you are reading
-through applying something general to something particular
-through a combination of all of these
Create a one page proposal for your project where you state your governing idea, and articulate the questions that your project will pursue. Show which sources you will use, and why you will use them. Express why this work seems important and meaningful.
Due, posted on website, 13 October.
STEP 5: STRUCTURE
Create a map or outline of your paper. This will provide you with a sense of direction.
You might choose to divide your paper into sections, each accomplishing part of the task of the project as a whole. Each section should, of course, address some aspect of your thesis.
You might find that as you begin writing, you might deviate from your map. This is to be expected, because as you write, you will have a better sense of what you are saying. Try to adjust your map accordingly.
Due, hard copy, 27 October
STEP 6: WRITING
Begin to construct your paper. Try to provide your reader an experience of the adventure of your idea. Frequently remind your reader (and yourself) how what you are saying relates back to your governing idea. Structure your paper by making sure that each paragraph contributes something to your argument. Pay attention to the way your paragraphs link to each other, so that there is a sense of continuity.
It’s sometimes helpful to begin writing your paper with an introduction which sets the tone for what you are presenting. This can help you to have a better idea of how you will present your idea. You might find, as you go on, that you want to change your introduction to better suit what you have written.
Due, hard copy: first draft,17 November
Due, hard copy: final draft, 4 December
STEP 7: REREAD, EDIT, REVISE
Reread and revise as you are writing, checking yourself with your map, and with your governing idea.
STEP 8: CONCLUSION
Once you have finished this much of your draft, find a way to tie your argument back together in a conclusion. Make sure that your conclusion is consistent with your thesis. But your conclusion should go beyond your thesis. It should respond to the question, “What have we learned, now that I have presented this idea?”
STEP 9: REREAD, EDIT, REVISE 2
Reread and revise again. This time, now that you have a draft of your paper, ask if it comes together as a whole.
Does every part contribute to the thing that your paper is?
Is there something missing?
Is there anything extraneous?
Is there anything that you think might be misunderstood?
Are there things that you don’t understand?
STEP 10: PROOFREAD
Proofread your paper for spelling and grammar mistakes (don’t rely only on your computer! This part needs a human touch.)
STEP 11: CITE SOURCES
Prepare your “Works Cited” page that includes all the sources that you have used. Make sure that you have also cited your sources in the text according to the MLA guidelines previously distributed.
STEP 12: ABSTRACT
Write an abstract of your paper: a summary of your paper that states its thesis and most important ideas in no more than a paragraph. Post on the website.
Due, posted on website, 4 December.
